According to new data from The NPD Group, Apple was the top smartphone manufacturer by market share in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2012. Apple led the market with a 31 percent share, followed by Samsung with 24 percent, HTC with 15 percent, Motorola with 12 percent, and LG with 6 percent. Interestingly, year-over-year growth in the post-paid market was basically flat in the quarter, while pre-paid smartphone volume rose 91 percent compared to Q2 2011. In addition, the majority of smartphone market growth is attributable to Apple and Samsung; while their combined unit sales rose 43 percent year-over-year, the same metric for all other brands fell 16 percent.
Charles Starrett was a senior editor at iLounge. He's been covering the iPod, iPhone, and iPad since their inception. He has written numerous articles and reviews, and his work has been featured in multiple publications.